Your partner is the main boss

Having bosses that interact with you is nice. Bosses that are introduced at last minute are horrible. So what if you get a partner that helps you throughout your adventure...even stays with you when you face the final boss(or so you think)...then reveals him/herself as the main boss.
Let's take Minda for example, by the end she had a ton of power, what if her plan all along was to use this power against Link.

They did this partner idea in Mario Partners in Time(sort of) where your partner tricked you the entire time.

They kinda did something like this with Phantom Hourglass, Linebeck became the final boss in it, maybe not directly, because he got taken over by Bellum.

I would love this. Betrayal is probably my favorite trope in literature.

It could basically be that Link thinks he's doing the right thing but his partner/villain is actually manipulating him to resurrect his master/make him an almighty deity. Of course, all sources to Link knowing the truth are either manipulated or silenced.

Originally Posted by KeeSomething

I thought it would be cool if one of Link's emotions took on a physical form. For example all his negative thoughts could manifest into some kind of monster that haunts him throughout his adventure.

Maybe it sounds too fan-fictiony or dumb, but since Zelda deals with split timelines, alternate dimensions, and "what if?" scenario, wouldn't it be cool if Link's choices made him his own enemy? What I mean by that is whatever choice he would make in one world, he would make the opposite choice in a parallel world. Saving one world means letting another world burn. Balancing out your deeds and making some sacrifices would make the player happy and upset with themselves. How do you choose one world over the other? It would cause a moral dilemma... maybe. It would be like how the player feels when they waking the Windfish, knowing that Koholint will vanish. It could at least make for some cool gameplay mechanics that continue the dual worlds trend Zelda has.

It could also explain how one Hero of Time succeeded while the other failed... But I guess I'm starting to talk more about gameplay mechanics and story than an actual villain. I can see Dark Link being used in this situation... but, I don't know, that's may be too cliche.

Originally Posted by magicalbatarang

Yes! That's cool, story-wise and as a game-mechanics. It would be even cooler if the Other Link starts off as a genuine hero, and his failure slowly transforms him. He could eventually become a force or an essence of the Hero's failure, and test Link's resolve.

Originally Posted by Grooston

And perhaps you could play both sides simultaneously as in like after a checkpoint in one game it will switch over to the other link? Watching the one Link become a great good hero, and the other becoming corrupt and evil ending up with a massive showdown where you could choose which Link to fight the other link as resulting in two separate endings.

Originally Posted by An Hero of Time

I had this idea for a while, but it involved time travel. Link notices that Hyrule is being corrupted by some sort of evil, but that evil is also attempting to psychologically corrupt Link and manipulate and undo his good efforts via time travel magic. Eventually he discovers that the enemy is his future self, who's attempting to corrupt himself in the past so that he can become the evil being (Dark Link I guess,) that he becomes in the future. The entire game would would revolve around some sort of cat and mouse chase focused on time travel, with one Link attempting to foil the other in the past, with the other attempting to destroy Link or undo his evils in the future.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and you'd have the option to play as either Link in the game. Anything that you do in one playthrough with one Link will affect the outcome of your playthrough with the other Link.

I love this idea, betrayal always makes a story more interesting. If Nintendo didn't want to truly commit to making your sidekick evil I think a good compromise would be the sidekick battling you against their will, not possessed but forced into it by circumstances, i.e. villain will kill their family, burn their home, give them all the gold in the world etc.

Double Dragon?

I'd love to see this happen. Betrayal (when done correctly) can make any story more interesting and in some ways, better.

It would be something fresh to the games for once.

Actually, I sort of feel like a betrayal scenario like that is still too similar to manipulation plots so many of the LoZ games have pulled off. It'd almost feel like a variation of the same plot, y'know? Likewise, betrayal for me is one of those timeless and awesome things in literature, but I'd personally like to see it play in an entirely different way. I mean, other than the surprise! I'm the bad guy! kind of twist. Instead, why not have a couple of trustworthy characters of a certain journey back-stab Link at some point or have Link himself (maybe by means of game choice) betray one or a handful of characters in the game for some sort of effect?
Choice is becoming like the new dimension in video games, and we can tell even games like SS seriously wanted to give this sort of thing a shot (although in a wimpy way?). So, yeah, I see things like betrayal sort of playing out like this becoming a really powerful thing for a Zelda game.

That is an interesting idea. I'm sure a partner-turned-villain would be an extremely intriguing plot twist. I like the guides being good and helpful, so that leaves me feeling torn between the two.

I actually had a slightly different idea. Basically Link is fighting some enemy but at the very end the entity pleads for mercy. Link grants it even though his allies/spirit adviser/whatever is telling him not to. The enemy then immediately attacks Link and runs off. His allies also turn on him because he allowed the enemy to get away and cause more destruction. From now on Link is not allowed into town or near their camp or whatever they have set up. So now Link has to go out on his own and correct the mistake he made by killing the enemy.

Originally Posted by Kostya

I actually had a slightly different idea. Basically Link is fighting some enemy but at the very end the entity pleads for mercy. Link grants it even though his allies/spirit adviser/whatever is telling him not to. The enemy then immediately attacks Link and runs off. His allies also turn on him because he allowed the enemy to get away and cause more destruction. From now on Link is not allowed into town or near their camp or whatever they have set up. So now Link has to go out on his own and correct the mistake he made by killing the enemy.

I like it. It's more on an exile/redemption vein, but it's one we've yet to see all fleshed out in a Zelda game. Link doesn't face too much rejection from the people and all that.

^Or, you could have a choice as to whether or not you want to kill him or spare him. Of course this wouldn't be the only part of the game like this, but, like Infamous, or Silent Hill (Shattered Memories and Downpour), the outcome would be different depending on what kind of karma you've built up. You wouldn't be completely shaping Link's character--nor the villains for that matter, as their personalities would be pretty much written, but with enough ambiguity that making one choice or another wouldn't necessarily clash with how he is being portrayed throughout the rest of the game.

Bringing this back to the OP's idea, perhaps the way you treat your partner would decide this--there would be several points in the game where you are given several choices; not all of them would be obvious, and not all of them would always seem to matter. But based on these choices, your partner may either feel a growing resentment to you, apathy, or loyalty. So. Sorry, I just turned this into something else.

Well betrayal might have been nice, but you all ruined it! No, it would be pretty cool, but it has been done and will take some finess and good writing to make it not forseeable. There are times when surprise final bosses work, and times when they don't. Case in point: FF9 final boss.....Where did he come from?! Don't get me wrong....still in my top five fav games of all time

Dude, if Midna or Navi turned against me, I would be just plain depressed.

But lets say they make the partner a complete ass hole? And then you get to beat him up!!!

You mean Fi? I would love to fight her… xD

I don’t know what you people hate with the main villain being introduced almost in the end. In TP, it was a surprising when we got to see Ganondorf. However, a partner that turned against you would be great. I wrote about it somewhere here a while ago that in a sequel to TP, Midna could turn against you, or something.

Fighting someone you care of would be nice. Not like fighting Zelda as in TP and ST, because you know she will be ok. But fighting someone you care really much for, but you know you have to kill them. That’ll be awesome.

Could be a good idea if used right.

I really like this idea. Definitely think this is something that would be cool for Nintendo to implement in future games. provided they do it well. This can't be something they experiment with if they want a good reaction from the fans, it has to be done is such a way that they know the fans will like it.

I really don't like the idea. It's already way overdone and would just be boring to me.

Originally Posted by Panda Bear

I really don't like the idea. It's already way overdone and would just be boring to me.

Way overdone in Zelda or other games/literature/media?